How in the name of sanity is this allowed to happen?. I'm not suggesting that profits should be stopped but a large percentage of that money should be used to lower prices for consumers and not increase them. I don't know whether the Government is intelligent enough to realise that this is a vote loser, a serious vote loser. I have swallowed a dictionary and still cannot find the words to describe this kind of profiteering. Indeed a suitable word has yet to be invented.
I know some will justify this and point out several economic factors that contribute into leading us into thinking that this is ok. But it isn't. It goes against everything I believe in. I give hundreds and even thousands of hours a year to voluntary causes and I do not mention this for a pat on the back because there are thousands of others who do the same or more. We believe in doing things for free, for the good of our fellow man, woman or child. We ask or expect nothing in return. It is hugely galling to us that profits of these companies are spiralling while costs and charges for households continue to rise. This is both obscene and corrupt.
Personally I get a huge kick out of doing things for free and I know many others do as well. It's a shame that organisations like Centrica don't have the same kind of ideals.
I have just heard that the Queen's Head in Hethersett has become our village's second warm space, joining our library. The fact we need warm spaces is so very sad but is a comment on what these obscene money grabbing companies are doing. They will claim they are sinking money into supporting communities and helping those struggling. My response to that is poppycock and nonsense. They are doing nothing of the kind. But are things likely to change? Sadly I think not.
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I felt the length of the news item on the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland's First Minister was rather over the top yesterday.
Not only were reporters by the bucketload outside Holyrood, we were told that "the whole country is shocked by the resignation." Frankly I, along with many others, couldn't care less that she has resigned and we certainly weren't shocked. Far too much media time was given to a story that doesn't have much interest and doesn't affect the majority of us.
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How many of us have a serious caffeine dependency? I'm not sure whether I do or not. I certainly get to the point where I crave coffee if I don't have it, but some days I just have too much.
Wednesday was a good example. I had a coffee with breakfast and then two more in a local cafe. By the time I had a fourth with lunch I couldn't face any more
On Monday I tuned into Radio Two and caught Dr Sarah Jarvis talking about caffeine dependency. It was an interesting piece comparing coffee, tea, energy drinks and much more.
Coffee in reasonable amounts could be good for you, but if I have too much I start to feel leaden and my stomach starts doing cartwheels.
I often refer to feelings of being coffee logged or food logged. That's just the bloated feeling you get when you have had too much coffee or too much food. It's a horrible feeling.
Decades ago when I was working for the Police, we had a young lady by the name of Jo who was on work experience and just loved making coffee for everyone in the office (yes really). Every time you went out of the office, even if it was only to go to the loo, you would return to find a cup of coffee on your desk and of course the more coffee we drank the more loo visits we needed. I have no idea how many cups we drank in a day but I still remember that feeling of sipping a new brew and thinking "this is making me feel physically sick."
I think I need to be more disciplined about coffee consumption, maybe a maximum of two cups a day and then dropping this down to one
A few years ago I did cut out coffee entirely but it made visits to cafes disappointing as it cut down the choices of what to drink and I soon gave the idea up and went back to coffee.
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A few days ago I wandered down to our local church to take some photos for the Good News magazine which I edit. This magazine goes back more than 150 years. Yes it's older than me. It has been an integral part of village life through decade after decade and two world wars. It provides an historical record of village life.
I have been editor for a year. Very shortly we will have some exciting news about how the magazine will have a new look from June.
The magazine is a Christian based publication but also features news from Hethersett, Great Melton and Little Melton. It acts as a foil to my e magazine Hethersett Herald which has a sharper edge to it. I try to make Good News exactly what it suggests - about good news.
If you live in Hethersett or the Melton's or just want to read the magazine, it currently costs just £4 for a year and that's 12 copies. The mag also includes local trade adverts.
If you want to see what I'm talking about you can view February's edition on my website at
www.hethersettherald.weebly.com
and follow the link on the front page. If you would like to be put on the list of regular subscribers just e-mail me and I will pass on your details.
Just a few of the photos I took of the church are with this very long blog.
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Last year I mentioned stopping off in the Cornish town of Lostwithiel after visiting the Scilly Isles. I had occasion to go to the local pharmacy after being ill for a couple of days with what turned out almost certainly to be a horsefly bite that made my leg swell up and gave me a fever.
We loved Lostwithiel (by the time I got there I was feeling a bit better). Lostwithiel was one of those places where we immediately detected a beating heart. We had coffee and a chat with locals at the Methodist Church. At the chemists I was given some tablets which soon worked and my leg went back to its usual size.
I tuned into Breakfast TV yesterday and watched an article on a Cornish village taking to video and song in an attempt to attract a new GP. Turned out to be Lostwithiel and the pharmacy was featured. Certainly brought back some good/bad memories.
Which sadly reminds me that our chemist was closed for the third consecutive day yesterday and I'm not sure it's going to open today either. This is a disgrace. I have received so many comments from people demanding that Boots inform us as to why they seem incapable of providing a service and just seem to close whenever they feel like it.
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Was very interested to see an article on television about public Wombling. This is volunteer groups undertaking regular litter picking sessions. In Hethersett we have these every month. It keeps our village tidy and relatively litter free. Of course if people didn't drop litter in the first place there would be no need for these groups.